The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Osteospermum plant, botanically known as Osteospermum ecklonis, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Mt. Dandenong’.
The new Osteospermum is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Emerald, Victoria, Australia. The objective of the breeding program was to create new compact and continuous flowering Osteospermum cultivars with large and attractive inflorescences.
The new Osteospermum originated from a cross-pollination in 1999 of a proprietary Osteospermum ecklonis selection identified as code number 4636, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary Osteospermum ecklonis selection identified as code number 9537, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Osteospermum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination grown in a controlled environment in Emerald, Victoria, Australia in 2000.
Asexual reproduction of the new Osteospermum by terminal vegetative cuttings was first conducted in Emerald, Victoria, Australia on Jul. 7, 2000. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Osteospermum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.